Rhino Records will release Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground on October 5th. The four-disc compilation includes tracks from such alternative-rock pioneers as the Replacements, Minor Threat, Husker Du, the Jam, the Smiths, R.E.M. and Sonic Youth.

Included are interviews with Greg Ginn and Peter Jesperson, founders of influential indie-rock labels SST and Twin/Tone respectively, as well as reflections on the era from Manchester scenemaker Tony Wilson and Dream Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn.

DIY punks like the Dead Kennedys and Black Flag were at the forefront of the movement and largely labored outside the reach of the limelight, while artists like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the recently split Jane's Addiction were able to capitalize on the momentum of the wave created by the earlier groups.

At the time of Jane's Addiction recent split, singer Perry Farrell furnished an epitaph for the band, that could easily have doubled for the groups that helped bring punk and alternative to the mainstream. "She laid a foundation for unbridled underground music to rise up on," Farrell told Rolling Stone. "The newly coined 'alternative music' came on to replace a stale music scene. We encouraged people to make scary choices."

Left of the Dial track listing:

Disc One

"Radio Free Europe," R.E.M. "Going Underground," the Jam "A Forest," the Cure "Holiday in Cambodia," Dead Kennedys "I'm In Love With a German Film Star," Passions "I Will Dare," the Replacements "That's When I Reach for My Revolver," Mission of Burma "Johny Hit and Run Paulene," X "Just Like Honey," the Jesus and Mary Chain "Black Celebration," Depeche Mode "Tell Me When It's Over," the Dream Syndicate "Hollywood (Africa)," the Red Hot Chili Peppers "Temptation," New Order "Ghosts," Japan "A Song From Under the Floorboards," Magazine "Oblivious," Aztec Camera "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely," Husker Du "Rise Above," Black Flag "Back in the Flesh," Wall of Voodoo "Cattle and Cane," the Go-Betweens